Shearing Success!!

We now have 12 sheared alpacas! John Merrell , who owns Gateway Farm Alpacas, is a life savor. He came all the way from his ranch in Scio, Oregon to spend a day shearing our alpacas. Not only did he shear our alpacas, but he taught us how to shear, catch, harness train, work with, toenail trimming, teeth care, feeding, paddock rotation and setup, and various other valuable tips and advice. He was very motivating and exciting to have at our "ranch". I found John by doing a Google search for shearing. He by far has the best shearing information anywhere. He even has a blow by blow chart on shearing. He also does shear sharpening for a fabulous price. He was so down to earth and a GREAT teacher. Can a brag about him more? Yes. He is definitely a valuable resource for the alpaca novice. Well, I imagine for the experienced also. So he has won a permanent link on my blog site.
Here is John checking out his work. All the alpacas looks so delicate after shearing.





John taught me how to properly hold the alpaca's ears while shearing the neck and face.








Here is John shearing up the neck

Here is John shearing the prime fiber, or blanket, off of the alpaca.

John is pointing out the alpaca's fighting teeth. They were previously removed, but have since begun to grow in. We didn't have all the tools we needed to remove them today, but he said that they should be removed soon. They are basically sawed off with an OB wire with handles.

There are more pictures on my mother's camera, so when I get a disc of those pictures I will post some more related to the shear-a-thon.